J & G Consulting was retained by the Salt River School System to conduct a strategic planning process that would result in the refinement, revision, and development of an Operational Strategic Plan for the Salt River School System for 2017-2022. Dr. Jose Leyba, has served as the Senior Associate, along with Associates, Mr. Mike Martinez and Ms. Debra Gomez, who have provided critical support and assistance on this project. All three Associates are retired Superintendents and have consulted with over thirty school districts in Arizona, including elementary, high school, unified, and reservation school districts. They currently serve school districts in and out of Arizona in the areas of strategic planning, superintendent searches, mentoring and coaching of principals and superintendents, curriculum and academic achievement, effective professional development, and human resources.

The overall goal of an Operational Strategic Plan is that it be action-oriented, reflective of the needs identified by the Salt River Schools Stakeholders through a “Collective Effort” Process, with SMART Goals that can be measured, and with an effective communication plan to allow for broad dissemination and two-way stakeholder feedback.

Three important committees have been identified to carry out the actual refinement, revision, and development of the Draft Operational Strategic Plan which will be presented to the Governing Board for approval: Strategic Plan Executive Team (SPET), Academic Plan Team and the Communications Team. These three committees will be responsible for updating and monitoring the progress of the Operational Strategic Plan for 2017-2022 and providing feedback to the Board.

The draft Vision, Mission, Values and Goals statements that follow were refined, revised, and developed by the Strategic Planning Executive Team (SPET) who represent Salt River Schools’ stakeholders. The SPET is the strategic planning vehicle that reviewed the SOAR Survey data, (SOAR: Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results), and input from various Salt River stakeholders, including the Board members, Administrative Team members, teachers, staff, Community, parents and students. The SPET will continue to serve as the vehicle for monitoring and evaluating the Operational Plan over the next five years and will meet at least twice each semester.

A monumental project such as this could not be accomplished without the cooperation and assistance of the Salt River community including the Governing Board, Dr. Louis Laffitte, Superintendent, Dr. Cynthia Cleary, Assistant Superintendent, Dawn Yazzie-Howard, Chief of Staff, and many other dedicated staff and Community stakeholders. Consultants have met with these leaders and developed a plan of action that is individualized to the needs of the Salt River Schools.